exhibition project. January 22th 2019 - March 3rd 2019
Vladimir Semenskiy. PRACTICES OF CONTEMPLATION. 11.12 Gallery. Moscow.
"Every man acquires the art that represents himself. This is because art reflects not so much life as the one who observes it," Oscar Wilde contemplated in his letters.
Vladimir Semenskiy offers us to forget about the reality around us for a while and immerse ourselves in our own world of sensations, using only the language of pure painting. Starting from the specific objects of the outside world, the artist transfers their images to the thin fabric of the canvas, allowing the paints to spread and fill the necessary space. Materiality disappears, there is no need to "guess" the content, the aspect of abstract perception comes to the fore. Figurativeness becomes only a subtle hint, appealing to the inner mood of each viewer. Just as the artist deliberately "discards" the challenge of copying the surrounding reality, we should also give preference to our feelings, not to intelligence. Perhaps someone will see allusions to the Japanese landscapes of the Kano school or traditional Chinese compositions of Shan-Shui, and someone will feel the similarity with the illuminated film photographs of the beginning of the last century. The works of Vladimir Semenskiy do not put the viewer in an awkward position, forcing him to unravel and learn their secret meaning, they only offer to observe and enjoy the contemplation, without being distracted by the restless shell of the outside world.
Nadia Sokolova
